Mark Donadio Movies

Wendy Walton (Laura Breckenridge) falls for a handsome stranger (Brendan Fehr) she meets on an elevator, unaware that he's her snooty boss's socialite boyfriend. ~ Karen Kelty, Rovi

A mother forgets her troubles the hard way in this independent black comedy. If the Burnett family isn't the most dysfunctional household in town, they're a good bet to be in the top three. Man of the house Jack (Dermot Mulroney) is a depressed businessman having an affair with a buxom co-worker (Christina Hendricks), his wife, Bunnie (Hope Davis), plays curious sexual role-playing games with their neighbor Simon (Chi McBride), sexually adventurous teenage daughter Kelly (Britt Robertson) is having an affair with a female classmate (Madeline Zima) while blackmailing one of her teachers (Selma Blair), and son Eric (Max Thieriot) is a fervent Christian whose loyalties are divided between a preacher obsessed with guns (Keith Carradine) and a drug-addled punk rocker (John Patrick Amedori) with a soft spot for Kelly. Things have gotten so bad for the Burnetts that their analyst has given up on them, but fate gives the family a curious second chance -- after suffering a head injury during a tryst with Simon, Bunnie develops a mild case of amnesia that wipes most of the family's troubles from her memory. The first feature film from director Vivi Friedman, The Family Tree received its world premiere at the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A down on her luck woman unwittingly becomes the object of a shady wager between two rival fashion photographers in this romantic comedy featuring Sopranos star Vincent Pastore. Dessi is something of an ugly duckling, and she's relegated herself to the reality that she'll never amount to anything but a fish cleaner in a low-rent restaurant. Then one day, Dessi catches the eye of local fashion photographer Rex. Rex is debating the true nature of photography with his rival Albert when he reluctantly accepts a bet to transform frumpy fish girl Dessi into a world-renowned super model. Though Rex ultimately succeeds in his mission, he falls for Dessi in the process and their romance hits the rocks after she catches wind of her newfound love's original intentions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young man struggles to grow up with principles as his family begins to self-destruct around him in this coming of age drama. Cole McKay (Michael Angarano) is a boy in his middle-teens growing up in an Irish-Catholic family in Boston. While Cole has dreams of playing major league baseball some day, his parents Desmond (Brendan Gleeson) and Margaret (Melissa Leo) are blind to his ambitions, and his older brother Terry (Tom Guiry) is a petty criminal who is unwittingly drawing Cole into his orbit. While Margaret is obsessed with projecting an image that the McKay family are happy and God-fearing folk, Desmond has been sinking deeper into depression ever since he lost his job, and his marriage is slowly but surely falling apart. The family's pride takes a body blow when Cole's teenage sister Kathleen (Emily Van Camp) discovers she's pregnant, but Cole decides it's time he took on some adult responsibilities, and gets himself a part-time job at a restaurant. Black Irish was the first directorial effort for screenwriter Brad Gann. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Thirty years after realizing that they had they had both found that rare once in a lifetime love, a man and a woman separated by fate decide to take a second shot at romance despite the fact that both had moved on with their lives a long time ago. As children growing up together in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Mark and Sara were inseparable. As teens it just seemed that the two adolescents were just really close friends, but when Mark's family moves to New Orleans in the early 1970s the letters that he and Sarah exchange reveal that their true feelings for one another run far deeper. Though their love is vividly expressed in a pair of intensely heartfelt letters, any chance for romance is effectively destroyed when Mark's meddling mother Carole (Brooke Adams) intercepts the letters and hides them from her son. Mistakenly believing that each has rejected the other's love, Mark and Sara both manage to move on with their lives despite their initial devastation. Years later, Mark and Sara are both in their forties, living in different cities and locked in unhappy marriages - Mark to a career-driven psychiatrist named Laura (Jessica Hecht) and Sara to struggling alcoholic named Chris (Michael Arata). Mark feels like his life has become hollow, and spends the majority of his time confiding his true feelings in his older brother Earl (M.C. Gainey), an eccentric French Quarter artist. But one day, when Mark discovers the letters that had been hidden by his mother, he sees the opportunity for a new life of happiness and contacts Sara to tell her the truth. The moment the two make contact, it's as if they were both transported back to that special time when nothing else mattered aside from their growing feelings for one another. Neither Mark nor Sara are particularly happy with the way their lives have turned out, and excitedly make plans to rendezvous in New Orleans. Could it be that Mark and Sara were truly meant to be with one another, or did their one chance at a lifetime of happiness actually end with the hiding of those passionate correspondences so many moons ago? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Award-winning actor Tony Shalhoub adds the "director" hyphenate to his calling card with this labor of love, starring his wife, Brooke Adams, and written by his sister-in-law, Lynne Adams. Made-Up lightly parodies the reality-TV "makeover" craze as it tells the tale of Elizabeth (Brooke Adams), a middle-aged divorcée who agrees to be made over by her daughter Sara (Eva Amurri), a process which will be documented for eternity by her aspiring-filmmaker sister, Kate (Lynne Adams). A former actress still smarting over her long-since faded stardom, Elizabeth is none too pleased at having her transformation videotaped, but she goes along with it, and soon finds that her "new you" is winning over the affections of a new beau, restaurateur Max (Shalhoub). But self-doubt continues to nag at Elizabeth, to the point where she almost undermines her own chances at romance. Lynne Adams based her screenplay on her own one-woman play; Gary Sinise makes an appearance as Elizabeth's ex-husband. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Ron Burrus directed this low-budget romantic comedy, set in Boston. The lead role of Bostonian Christopher DiMarco is portrayed by Michael Landes (Jimmy Olson on Lois & Clark). After a blackout, the tux-clad Chris regains consciousness on the porch of a beachfront summer cottage, where he encounters attractive zoologist Melissa (Hedy Burress) and her annoying roomie Liz (Dina Spybey). Chris and Melissa become a twosome, but bad advice from his divorced pal Peter (Lenny Clarke) and intrusions by Liz lead Chris on a downward spiral. After another blackout, he seeks therapy from Dr. Maddie (Lane Smith), and long-lost, buried secrets are soon excavated. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this interesting a film, set 500 years before Columbus came to the New World, a culture clash ensues between a European man and an Indian tribe in New England. The story is based upon the legend of a Celtic slave aboard a Viking ship visiting North America who explores the new land. In the film, that slave is Kilian who after his capture by Norsemen, longs to win his freedom and go home. He instead finds himself marooned and dying of a snake-bite on the New England shores. He is rescued by a local tribe. He gradually learns their language and culture while trying not to fall in love with Turtle, a young native. Kilian feels great conflict as he tries to decide whether it is better to remain there, or attempt to return to Ireland. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi